would control strategic policy areas, such as relations with the United
States, Afghanistan and India…promise of freedom for former president (retd) General Pervez Musharraf
and that Sharif’s government had secretly agreed to let Musharraf go
abroad after a symbolic indictment over treason……
……
When Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said we are here to stay he was actually trying to convey a message.
Poor Imran Khan, Sharif senior has reportedly managed to strike a deal with the Army after all. Actually that is not quite correct, the Army has used Khan to soften up the Sharif brothers. Ayesha Siddiqui calls this a “soft coup” and that Nawaz will remain a Prime Minister in Name Only (PiMNO, our words). The chance of PTI riding the protest horse to the throne now appears remote.
…….
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is close to making a deal with the
Pakistan Army, in the backdrop of the political events that are
unfolding in the federal capital, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The
report suggests that as per the proposed agreement, the armed forces
would control strategic policy areas, such as relations with the United
States, Afghanistan and India.
…….
The military has extracted a
promise of freedom for former president (retd) General Pervez Musharraf
and that Sharif’s government had secretly agreed to let Musharraf go
abroad after a symbolic indictment over treason, which took place in
March.
The Wall Street Journal says the government went back on
the deal as a result of which trust had eroded between the military and
Sharif.
Government aides said the military has seized on Sharif’s
weakened status during the political crisis and are now seeking
guarantees from the prime minister that he will follow through on the
agreement, the report suggests.
It also says that for the rest of his term, Sharif will be a ceremonial prime minister.
“If
Nawaz Sharif survives, for the rest of his term, he will be a
ceremonial prime minister—the world will not take him seriously,” said
Ayesha Siddiqa, an analyst based in Islamabad. “A soft coup has already
taken place. The question is whether it will harden,” the report says.
Government aides said in the report that the administration was also
willing to let the prime minister’s brother, Shahbaz Sharif, step down
as chief minister of Punjab.
Thousands of protesters led by cleric
Tahir-ul-Qadri and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan have
camped outside the parliament building in Islamabad to demand the
resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The two-week showdown
at the heart of the capital has rattled the country and shaken Sharif’s
government just 15 months into a five-year mandate.
Imran Khan
has remained defiant and refused to end his sit-in protest, saying he
was seeking “independence or death” and would not rest until both Sharif
brothers quit.
Khan has alleged massive cheating in the May 2013 poll, though international observers said the vote was largely free and fair.
…….
Link: nawaz-close-to-reaching-deal-with-army
…..
regards